locate pipe under sod

I just removed a pool and there is some plastic drain pipe still in the ground. I might like to repurpose the pipe. I have two questions:

1) If this drain pipe is installed in a proper manner, it is connected to the treated waste water system or to the surface drain system?

2) What would be an easier way to follow its course under the sod, dig and follow or some other method. I wonder if it can be easily followed with a metal detector if some sort of cable is fished into it. I don't own a metal detector.

I suspect that this drain line is tied to ONE drain that is under ONE of my downspouts. Obviously, I'd like to confirm this too. All and all, it could require tracing up to 100' of pipe.

There are other drains for surface water on the property. I believe that they are an older, separate system.

locate pipe under sod

Thanks for contributing.

TheEplumber: Pipe size is 3-4 inch. I don't recall, but it is definitely bigger than 2”.

A sewer cam with a locating head is probably outside of my capabilities. They are probably expensive and even if I could rent one, I should probably be afraid that I will lose the business or otherwise damage it. OTOH, I guess I could dig it up to retrieve it at that point.

bbo: I don’t have access to the end that drains into the municipality lines.

locate pipe under sod

I started back towards this project again this week. I stuck a hose in a clean out near where the pool was that is upstream of where I want to tap in. My aim was to see if the pipe is still clear before I start working. As I waited for a reasonable amount of water to run through it, I thought about how I might tell if the single downspout drain is tied to it.

My pipes then spoke to me. I walked over and listened to the inlet under the downspout and I could hear water running. After I tuned off the hose, the sound stopped. I repeated the process a couple of times so I am convinced that the pool and downspout used the same drain.

What I can see so far is a 4" line to the pool. It might increase in size after the downspout.

locate pipe under sod

Also check local regulations regarding what can or can't be put into the storm water system. There are very few (if any) places that still allow rain water run off to be put into the sewage system. And many places now require that rain water be managed on-site first instead of being dumped to the street. This seems like a burden, but the run off from streets really does a lot to hard the watershed to where it eventually drains.

locate pipe under sod

Thanks to both of you. There are two existing surface water drainage lines that serve my property. The one that I am writing about, plastic is the newer of the two. It catches only one downspout at this time. The old one, original to the house is another material. I have not investigated precisely what it is made of. It drains two downspouts and a catch basin in the driveway. There is, of course, a separate sewer line.

In my area, all the rain water gets pumped out sooner or later. Connections to the street drainage system for downspout and yard drainage are permitted and common.